First edition of this monumental survey of Chinese life in the 18th century as witnessed by the Jesuit missionaries. This work by missionaries including Cibot, Bourgeois, Poirot, Ko and Yang comprises translations of classic Chinese works of law, maxims and proverbs, as well as essays on Chinese linguistics, current affairs and scientific observation. Volume VII is a reprint of Amiot's "Art militaire des Chinois" (Paris 1772), the first translation into a European language of the ancient Chinese military strategy, while volume XII, the "Vie de Confucius", was more complete and accurate than any previous text on the subject. - Amiot, the main contributor, went to China in 1740 and soon won the confidence of the Qianlong Emperor, remaining for the rest of his life in Beijing after the suppression of the Jesuits in 1773. Fluent in both Chinese and Tartar, his works were amongst the first to bring the philosophy and life of the East to the western world, and his "Dictionnaire tatare-mantchou-français" (Paris 1789) was the first to introduce these languages to Europe. Many of the engravings are based on Chinese designs sent by Amiot to Henri Bertin, minister in charge of Chinese affairs under Louis XVI. - Volumes 16 and 17 were published much later in 1814 and under a different imprint, and complete sets are infrequently found on the market. - Some wear to spine ends and at edges. Provenance: from the library of Jean R. Perrette with his bookplate on the pastedown. {BN#45769}

[Arctic Blue Books]. Report of the Committee Appointed by the Lords... Commissioners of the Admiralty to Inquire Into and Report on the Recent Arctic Expeditions in Search of Sir John Franklin [...]. London, George Edward Eyre & William Spottiswoode, 1852. London, George Edward Eyre & William Spottiswoode, 1852. Including: -Additional papers relative to the Arctic expedition under the orders of Captain Austin and Mr. William Penny. -Further correspondence and proceedings connected with the Arctic expedition. London, George Edward Eyre and William Spottiswoode, 1852. With 19 lithographed maps (including 9 folding), some with some details in red, Polar map chromolithographed. With: (2) Report from the select committee on Arctic expedition; together with the proceedings of the committee, minutes of evidence, and appendix. [London], 1855. With a folding lithographed map, partly coloured. (3) Further papers relative to the recent Arctic expeditions in search of Sir. J. Franklin, and the crews of her majesty's ships "Eurebus" and "Terror;" including the reports of Dr. Kane and Messrs. Anderson and Stewart. London, Harrison and sons, 1856. With two lithographed maps (one partly coloured). 5 volumes. Folio. Ad 1 bound in modern half sheepskin, gold-tooled spine, marbled sides. With the original publisher's blue printed paper wrappers bound in. Ad 2 and 3: red half cloth, with chemical marbled sides with a shelf mark and the device of the "Marinens Bibliothek" in gold on front board. LIX, [1 blank], [2], 199, [1 blank]; III, [1 blank], 368; 216; XX, 35, [1 blank]; V, [1 blank], 95, [1 blank] pp.

EUR 45,000.00

Ad 1: Official report of the committee appointed to deal with the expeditions in search of the British Royal Navy officer and explorer John Franklin (1786-1847) "and whether everything was done by them to carry into effect their instructions, ..." (p. III). After earlier expeditions to the North Pole and arctic Canada in the 1820s, John Franklin left Britain again in 1845 in search of a northwest passage: "His instructions were simple; he was to sail as far west as possible, to about 95°, then penetrate southward and westward towards the Bering Strait. If such a route was found impossible he should go north through the Wellington Channel, ... and seek an alternative passage in that direction" (Howgego). The two ships got stuck in ice near King William Island in September 1846, where Franklin died in June 1847. Still trapped in ice, the remaining crew abandoned the ships in April 1848; the entire party perished. Many expeditions in search of Franklin and his crew followed, starting in 1848, most of them initiated by the Admiralty. The present publication deals with the two major expeditions of 1850. The first volume "contains results of an inquiry by the Arctic Committee into the thoroughness of Austin's and Penny's search for Franklin..., dealing specifically with ice and current conditions in Wellington and Queens Channels and with the discovery of relics of the Franklin expedition in the vicinity of Beechey Island" (Arctic Bibl.). It contains numerous letters to and from the captains of these expeditions, Captain Austin and Captain Penny, as well as interviews with them and members of their crew. Included at the end is an appendix with relevant documents. The second and third volume describe the two search expeditions, whose captains kept in contact with each other during their journey. The volumes contain numerous letters by both captains, as well as valuable day by day journals of their proceedings. Included in the text are illustrations of coast lines and flags and a few tiny maps. Most of the maps are included on plates or folding plates, showing the journey of the two expeditions and newly mapped areas. The third volume is often considered to be the most valuable, since it contains new information acquired by the above mentioned expeditions but also others, including Richard Collinson's expedition to the Bering Strait. Austin and Penny found out that Franklin's party had wintered at Beechey Island in 1845-1846. It wasn't until 1857 that another expedition financed by Franklin's widow found skeletal remains and the crew's reports up to April 1848 were found King William Island. The present publication as well as other similar publications on Arctic expeditions were initiated by the British Parliament and became known as the Arctic Blue Books, after their dark blue paper wrappers. These documents are "largely field records of participants in the expeditions or their evidence of hearings etc., and record their activities and the regions explored in more explicit detail than the narratives and scientific papers of these expeditions published for the general public. For a large part of the Canadian Arctic, they have been the most extensive source of information in print, and for sections of it, until recently, the sole source" (Arctic Bibl). Ad 2: Official report of the Arctic expedition-committee, dealing, among other things, with the expedition by Robert McClure (1807-1873). McClure embarked on a new Arctic expedition in search of Franklin and a northwest passage in 1850. The ships did find a northwest passage, and the committee rewards McClure with £5000 and another £5000 for the ship's officers and crew. The report closes with paying respects to John Franklin, emphasizing that the search for Franklin and his crew were the main goal and that the northwest passage was discovered "incidentally". Other sections deal with the travels of Captain Richard Collinson and Captain Henry Kellett. The folding map shows the routes taken by McClure and Collinson. Ad 3: Further papers dealing with the ongoing search for John Franklin and his crew, issued by the Arctic exploration-committee and presented to the House of Commons. It narrates the proceedings of several search parties, including American and Canadian expeditions like the Second Grinnell Expedition (under command of Dr Kane) and also the Hudson's Bay Company expedition (under Anderson and Stewart). It also contains the correspondence concerning the adjudication of the £10.000 to the Scottish explorer John Rae for finding out Franklin's fate. Ad 1: with the library stamps of the Danish "Marinens Bibliotek" on paper wrappers and title-pages. In very good condition, only slightly browned and with small tears in the margins of a few folding maps; ad 2: slightly browned, occasionally a marginal note in pencil; ad 3: slightly browned, with a tear at the foot of page 41. Overall a very good set. {BN#48504}

The most accurate map of Asia published at the beginning of the 19th century. It shows significant advancement compared with other maps of the period, incorporating the work of surveyors like James Rennell, to whom the map was dedicated. Rennell was surveyor-general of the East India Company's dominions in Bengal, and the information published in his "Bengal Atlas" in 1779 appears here. Arrowsmith also included remarkable topographical detail such as mountain ranges in regions as remote as Tibet. Remarkably the region on the shore of the Arabian Gulf is already labelled as "Bani Yas" territory. Arrowsmith has marked the track of Lapérouse's voyage in the Indian Ocean and Far East. - Aaron Arrowsmith (1750-1823) was the finest cartographer of his generation. Although he received little formal education, it is believed that he was provided with some mathematical instruction by William Emerson, an author of several books on the application of mathematics to the area of cartography. Around 1770, Arrowsmith moved to London to seek employment. It is believed that he worked for William Faden before joining John Cary Sr. in the early 1780s. There he provided the measurements for John Cary's early publication detailing the roads from London to Falmouth, his first signed work. Arrowsmith set up on his own in 1790 and over the next thirty years produced some of the most beautiful and elegant maps of the era. - In perfect condition. {BN#49522}

Collection of five curious foreign trade monographs issued by the Austrian Chamber of Commerce, directed at Austrian concerns aiming to do business with Southeast Asia and Australia. Contains general geographical data and statistics, details on units of measurements, economic structure, and customs of trade. {BN#45090}

Perfect copy inscribed by King Carol I of Romania for Marie Therese of Austria-Este (1849-1919) with her autograph note of ownership on the front endpaper: "Erhalten vom Könige Karl von Rumänien. Pelesch, Montag, 9. 8. 1909. Marie Therese". Ultimately removed from the library of the Dukes of Bavaria at Tegernsee Castle. - Construction of Peles Castle commenced in 1873 under the Viennese architect Carl Wilhelm Christian Ritter von Doderer; after 1876 Doderer's assistant Johannes Schultz took over and changed the original plans. The building was inaugurated on 7 October 1883. Between 1893 and 1914, the Czech architect Karel Liman was commissioned to build the main tower. The castle served as the summer residence of the Romanian royal family until the death of King Carol in 1914. {BN#24477}

Erste französische Ausgabe. - Übersetzung von "A chronological abridgment or history of discoveries made by Europeans in different parts of the world" (London, 1756); hernach vertrieben under dem Titel "A collection of authentic, useful and entertaining voyages and discoveries" (ebd., 1765). "In addition to many other voyages related, this work also includes the story of Alexander Selkirk" (Cox). - Vereinzelt mit unbedeutendem Wasserrand, sonst wohlerhaltene, sehr dekorative Reihe. {BN#12392}

First edition. An account of an East Indian and Middle Eastern journey made during the years of 1641-50. The German soldier Behr (d. 1692) departed from Leipzig, enlisted with the Dutch East Indian Company (VOC) and travelled to East India in 1644. From Batavia he sailed onwards to Java and Goa, and he served with the fleet of Johan Maetsuycker on the Malabar coast. He spent four years to Ceylon before visiting Persia and returning to the Netherlands. His account was published 18 years after his return, and "many sections of his journal resemble suspiciously closely the narratives of Johann Jacob Merklein and Johann Jacob Saar" (Howgego). The fine illustrations include views of Goa, St. Helena, and Kamron (Bandar Abbas), a cinnamon tree and flying fish. The appendix reprints the author's passport issued by Captain Jan van der Laen, as well as an alphabetical index. - Somewhat browned throughout due to paper. Covers slightly warped. Wants a total of four engravings, including the title (letterpress title-page is present). From the library of the Viennese collector Werner Habel (1939-2015) with his handwritten and stamped ownership, dated 1981, to the pastedown. {BN#48934}

Curious album of 50 watercolours, showing various portraits of people who do business in the streets of Beijing, among them a barber, street vendors, carpenters, jugglers, sculptors, beggars, mouse and rat catchers, newspaper salesmen, pickpockets, etc. The album also shows different types of machines such as slides and looms as well as everyday scenes: a young boy stealing the hat of an elderly man, another man collecting food discarded by the wealthy, a painter drawing the portrait of a deceased. - In very good condition, with ms. German translations of the Chinese captions. {BN#45807}

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Voyages to China, Siberia, Alaska and the North Pacific ca. 1771 by future Emperor of Madagascar

Remarkably rare (STCN lists only two complete copies) first Dutch edition of the memoirs of Count Mauritius Augustus de Benyovsky (1746-1786) and an account of his travels in China and the North Pacific. Benyovsky, a nobleman of Hungarian origin, had travelled to Poland and Lithuania where he was involved in military operations relating to Poland's struggle for independence from Russia. After being captured by the Russians in 1770, he was sent into exile to Kamchatka peninsula on the eastern Siberian coast. With other prisoners, however, he managed to escape by sea in 1771. On their journey they visited Japan, Formosa, Canton, China and the northern Pacific, well before James Cook and La Perouse. His voyage to Macau was the first known voyage from the north-east to the south-east shores of Asia. The present work contains details on Siberia, the Russian fur trade and the history, life and customs of the natives of Kamchatka. There is also a description of the Kurile and Aleutian islands and Benyovsky claims to have landed on Alaska. In the name of the French government he later led an expedition to Madagascar to establish a French colony of which an account is included. Back in Paris Benyovsky became a close friend of Benjamin Franklin and Casimir Pulasky. In 1779 he followed Pulaski to America and offered his services in the American Revolution. With Benjamin Franklin's assistance he founded an American-British company for business with Madagascar. As the independent ruler of the island he challenged in the name of his empire the European powers. That apparently was too much: Benyovsky perished as Malagasy monarch in 1786 in fights with the French. - In very good condition, with only some light spotting and the bindings slightly worn. {BN#45572}

First Latin edition of the first European atlas of China. Martini based his highly regarded survey on the Ming revision of the Yü t'u, unlike d'Anville's atlas which used Jesuit surveys. D'Anville notes in his Mémoire: "Martini made use of the maps which the Chinese possessed at the time. They do great honour to that nation and make them superior in this connection to any other Asian people" (p. 25f.; quoted in Lust). The hand-coloured double-page maps consist of a general map of China, 15 maps of the provinces, and a map of Japan. The volume was published as a separate volume by Blaeu in 1655; however, the maps were also included in volume VI of Blaeu’s "Nieuwe Atlas" (1649-58) in Dutch and "Theatrum Orbis Terrarum; sive, Novus Atlas" (1655) in Latin. - Title with small repair at center, patched with bookplate on verso before colouring, first leaf with paper flaw repaired before printing and with a few letters supplied in manuscript facsimile on verso, map of Iunnan with tiny losses to brown pigment repaired on verso, some browning, mostly to text. Provenance: contemporary, unidentified engraved armorial bookplate on verso of title; latterly in the library of Jean R. Perrette (his bookplate on pastedown). {BN#45765}

Separately published edition, with the text in Dutch, of Blaeu's atlas of China, the first atlas and geography of China to be published in Europe. "The seventeen maps are noteworthy not only for their accuracy, remarkable for the time, but also for their highly decorative cartouches featuring vignettes depicting regional Chinese dress, activities, and animals [...] In addition, it is one of the first true Sino-European publications, based on Chinese land surveys but presenting geographic data in a highly visual European cartographic format" (Reed & Demattè). The first map is a general map of China (including Japan and parts of Korea), followed by 15 maps of the provinces of China and a general map of Japan. - The maps are based on Chinese cartographic sources collected by the Jesuit missionary Martinus Martini's (1614-61), among them a copy of the manuscript atlas by Zhu Siben (compiled 1311/12) with revisions from the printed atlas by Lo Hongxian. Martini compiled the maps himself and convinced Blaeu to postpone the work on other volumes and publish the present atlas of China. It was published in 1655, in five different language editions, as a separate atlas and as the sixth volume of Blaeu's celebrated Atlas Maior (only differing in the engraved title-page). Martini also added a lengthy preface with an account of the compilation process, geographical descriptions of the provinces of China and Japan, a list of towns with their geographical co-ordinates and a history of the Manchurian war, earlier published as De bello Tartarico historia (1654). - Golius, as a result of his fruitful contact with Martini, wrote his Byvoeghsel van 't Koninckryck Catay, on the Chinese reign, which is published here for the first time as a supplement to the atlas, containing numerous woodcut Arabic and Chinese characters. In it Golius "identified the names of the "Catayan" duodenary cycles as Chinese. These names were first published [...] in Arabic letters [...] This resulted in the first printing if Chinese characters (from wood) in Holland, and of the first properly formed characters in Europe" (Smitskamp). - Lacking the letterpress title-label on the engraved title-page, two tears in the outer margin of pp. 193f. and 211f. and small corner off p. XI torn off; a very good copy. Binding also in very good condition, with only the spine slightly soiled and the tooling on spine slightly faded at a few points. {BN#45591}

Bougard, R. / Serres, John Thomas (ed. and transl.). The little sea torch: or, true guide for... coasting pilots: by which they are clearly instructed how to navigate along the coasts of England, Ireland, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Sicily; the isles of Malta, Corsica, Sardinia, and others in the straits; and of the coast of Barbary, from Cape Bon to Cape de Verd. Enriched with upwards of one hundred appearances of head-lands and light-houses. Together with plans of the principal harbours. Also a table of soundings [...]. London, printed by T. Rickaby for J. Debrett and the author, 1801. London, printed by T. Rickaby for J. Debrett and the author, 1801. Folio (285 x 447 mm). (2), II, 144, (6) pp. With 20 hand-coloured aquatint plates, each showing several coastal views, and 24 hand-coloured detailed plans on 12 plates, engraved by John Luffman. Contemporary half calf over marbled boards with giltstamped red spine label. Later endpapers.

EUR 15,000.00

First English translation of Le Sieur Bougard's famous and oft-printed navigation manual, the "Petit flambeau de la mer", which contains "the minute description of the coasts of the countries and islands indicated by the title" (Phillips). Crucially, this edition boasts a new and original series of illustrations, "beautifully drawn and colored views of the principal headlands, harbors, lighthouses, ports, etc. mentioned in the text" (Phillips), drawn by the English painter John Thomas Serres (1759-1825), who was created Maritime Painter to King George III in 1793. In 1800 Serres became Marine Draughtsman to the Admiralty, and the sketches he made on his ensuing coastal voyages around Britain, France and Spain, and into the Mediterranean, were self-published in the present form, with the consent of the Admiralty (which purchased two copies). "The vast majority of the [...] 170 subscribers were naval officers. This may well be considered to be Serres's most important contribution to the arts of naval victory, both because it was a valuable aid to navigation and because it displays such consummate workmanship" (Tracy). The harbour charts are the work of John Luffman, who was active between 1776 and 1820 as an engraver, publisher, and goldsmith, and the "Naval Chronicle" published quite a few of Luffman's charts. - Slight wear to extremities. Occasional light spotting, neatly rebacked to style. {BN#48366}